Microsoft released a HotFix for NETCF v3.5 on Windows Mobile: now you can use Web Services over SSL (without worrying about empty packets)

• System.Net.WebException: Unable to read data from the transport connection (System.Net.Sockets.SocketException: Unknown error (0x0))
• Use HotFix responsibly!

Today my co-worker Carmelo (thanks for sharing this! ) found something that NETCF Developers were waiting since long time ago… a fixed version of NETCF CAB for Windows Mobile that would allow to address a bug about calling Web Services over SSL, which was greatly described by Andrew Arnott here some time ago. The problem was that NETCF couldn’t work with Web Services over SSL that respond with empty encryption packets.

The link to the hotfix is “ FIX: A System.Net.WebException occurs when you run an application to send HTTPS Web requests to a server in an embedded device ”.

Does this mean that also NETCF Developers can begin waiting for hotfixes for bugs? No, I personally think that this is a one-shot FIX coming from the NETCF Dev Team, because the problem was affecting so many customers around the globe… they simply deserve it. And, again, Technical Support is your friend!! I don’t know the story behind this fix, however to convince the Dev Team to produce it I’m sure that a “certain” number of customers made their voice be heard through Service Requests…

WARNING! Remember that analogously to every other hotfix you can ask to Technical Support about whatever Microsoft’s product, you should install it only if you're sure it’s for the problem you're being affected by. This is because a hotfix is meant to address a specific issue and has been tested precisely for that: it didn't go through the whole regression testing that it's usually done when packaging many hotfixes into a Service Pack. So, you don’t have to install this hotfix if you’re not interested on Web Services over SSL (sending empty packets).

Cheers,
~raffaele